NASET

WEEK IN REVIEW

National Association of Special Education Teachers

March 15, 2019                     Vol 15 Issue #11

Dear NASET News,

Welcome to NASET's WEEK in REVIEW.  Here, we provide you with the latest publications fromNASET to read and or download, as well as some of the most interesting articles that have happened this week in the field of special education. We hope you enjoy this publication.  Feel free to send us articles for this publication or let us know your thoughts about the WEEK in REVIEW at news@naset.org. Have a great weekend.

Sincerely,
 

NEW THIS WEEK ON NASET

NASET's Classroom Management Series

I Have a Voice and I Deserve One: Teachers Giving Special-Needs Students A Voice

This issue of NASET's Classroom Management series was written by Victoria Alexandria Smith of the University of South Carolina-Columbia. Many students with disabilities are questioned their capability of learning and having a voice at school and in life. There are countless misconceptions made that places a negative stigma on students with disabilities. Regardless of the severity of a child's disability, they have a right to a voice. They are still a learner that has a right to education. It is morally unjust to discriminate against a child with disabilities. A way to help these students have a voice is having teachers as advocates building awareness and acceptance in the school environment. This article will summarize teachers as advocates and the strategies they use, the importance of students with disabilities, and how they are given a voice in their school environment. Read More

No Link Found Between MMR Vaccine and Autism, Even Among Children with Other Risk Factors for Autism

A nationwide cohort study of all children born in Denmark to Danish-born mothers between 1999 through 2010 concluded that the mumps, measles, and rubella (MMR) vaccine does not increase the risk of autism, does not trigger autism in susceptible children, and is not associated with clustering of autism cases following vaccination. The findings are published in Annals of Internal Medicine. The hypothesized link between measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism continues to cause concern and challenge vaccine uptake. Currently, there is a concerning increase in measles cases in Europe and the U.S., and the World Health Organization (WHO) has declared vaccine hesitancy as one of the top 10 threats to global health. Read More

Minnesota Dog Treats Bakery with Disability Focus Expands Throughout Midwest

A Chanhassen couple started a dog treats bakery to give young people with disabilities work experience. Now, their business is growing by leaps and bounds and is expanding beyond Minnesota. As a 30-something who has cerebral palsy, Lauren Ireland says it can be difficult to find a job. Twice a week, she works as an ambassador for Finley's Barkery at grocery stores and pet shops around the metro. "I love getting out," said Ireland. "I actually live in a group home and it can be taxing at times. It's good for me to get out and enjoy life." Read More

Many Students with ADHD Don't Get Help at School

A significant portion of students with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder receive no school services despite experiencing significant academic and social impairment, according to a new study published in the Journal of Attention Disorders. This was particularly common among students from non-English-speaking and/or lower-income families. "We found that although the majority of students were currently receiving one or more school services, only a minority received support to manage their behavior, and at least one out of five students did not receive any school support despite experiencing significant educational impairment," said lead author Dr. George DuPaul, professor of school psychology and associate dean for research in the College of Education at Lehigh University. Read More

A Trainer on the Autism Spectrum Wanted a Place for People with Autism to Work Out, So He Opened His Own Gym

Personal trainer Mark Fleming flashes an encouraging smile as he pushes a young man through the paces. It's a simple exercise, stepping over a hurdle. But for his client, there's nothing easy about it. Fleming understands. He knows a lot about life's hurdles. And like his client, he is on the autism spectrum. "I think it is important to help others on the spectrum to achieve the life that they desire. And exercise is a great way to do that," Fleming tells CNN. "I have them do this exercise to get the brain working... Coming to a new place can be challenging to an individual with autism." Fleming graduated from the University of Alabama with bachelor's and master's degrees in exercise science. While working as a Special Olympics volunteer, he learned of a disturbing fitness problem for many of the participants. "There was nothing for people with autism to stay active [after the Special Olympics ended]. And they would end up regressing. A lot of the time, people with disabilities stay at home a lot and become sedentary." Read More

TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Congratulations to: Kerrenina Gutierrez, Nicole Schaffer, Kay Hasnon, Kimberly Smathers, Jennifer Womble Ericson, Brandey Potter, Daniel Rayder, Susan Avery, Julia Berger, Jordanne Benton, Denise Keeling, Patsy Ray, Kimberly Rehbaum, Michelle Hohmann, Olumide Akerele, Darlene Slade, Susan Mason, Danelle Fugate, Cindi Maurice, Joanna Blau, John Walter, Zenaida Lemus, Laurine Kennedy, Sharon Johnson-Hiltz, and Raynelle Lanier who all knew the answer to this week's trivia question:

Haley Moss is one month into her practice as a lawyer. So far, so good. She has laser focus, a photographic memory and an extreme eye for detail - invaluable assets for poring over endless briefs and reports as a lawyer. And what's more, she just might be making history: In January, Moss raised her hand, took an oath and became known as Florida's first lawyer living openly with what diagnosis? 

 Answer: AUTISM 

THE TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE WEEK WILL RETURN ON MARCH 22, 2019

Autism Diagnosis Often Followed by Identification of Other Conditions

Behavioral conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) crop up in about one in three autistic people within 15 years of their autism diagnosis. About 20 percent of autistic people are diagnosed with anxiety in that time period. A study of nearly 6 million people reveals the onset and prevalence of nine such diagnoses that often accompany autism. The work, which includes 30,423 people with autism, is the largest to focus on psychiatric and developmental conditions that occur together. Most of the findings fit with prior research. Read More

Women Who Vape During Pregnancy May Wrongly Think it Safe

Health professionals advise against using any nicotine products during pregnancy, but some women are using e-cigarettes before, during, or after pregnancy and thinking it's safer than smoking, US researchers report. In a survey of more than 3,000 new mothers in Oklahoma and Texas, 7% said they had used electronic vapor products, including e-cigarettes, around the time of their pregnancy; 1.4% used them during pregnancy. Nearly half of users said they thought e-cigarettes would help them quit smoking or would be safer than traditional cigarettes, the study team reported March 1 in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. "It's important for people to know that e-cigarettes are not safe to use during pregnancy and that nicotine is harmful to fetal development and infant outcomes," said lead study author Martha Kapaya of the CDC's Division of Reproductive Health in Atlanta, GA. "Among those who used e-cigarettes in this study, a substantial portion used them in an attempt to quit smoking cigarettes, suggesting a possible lack of awareness of, or access to, scientifically proven strategies," she told Reuters Health by email. Read More

Pediatric Onset Multiple Sclerosis Study Examines Baffling, Often-Overlooked Disease

Seemingly overnight, healthy children develop mysterious, potentially disabling symptoms. When children finally receive a diagnosis, often after weeks of tests and office and hospital visits, the parents may be shocked to learn that they have multiple sclerosis -- a potentially disabling autoimmune disease once believed to affect only adults. "For many years, the tagline for MS was that it was the 'leading crippler of young adults,'" said Theodore P. Cross, a senior research specialist in social work at the University of Illinois. Cross is also a co-author of a recent study on families of children with pediatric onset MS, published in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma. Read More

Child's Elevated Mental Ill-Health Risk if Mother Treated for Infection During Pregnancy

Risks for autism and depression are higher if one's mother was in hospital with an infection during pregnancy. This is shown by a major Swedish observational study of nearly 1.8 million children. "The results indicate that safeguarding against and preventing infection during pregnancy as far as possible by, for instance, following flu vaccination recommendations, may be called for," says Verena Sengpiel, Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, and last author of the study, published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry. Maternal infection with certain infectious agents, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV) or the herpes virus, are already known to be capable of harming fetal brain development and boosting the risk of certain psychiatric disorders. Read More

In Oregon, a Lawsuit Aimed at Supporting Students with Disabilities

A first-of-its-kind lawsuit charging that the state of Oregon has failed to provide full school days to students with mental, emotional and behavioral disabilities could create a model for other states to stop the practice of shortening school days. The class action lawsuit - filed Jan. 22 in U.S. district court by Disability Rights Oregon and other groups - says Oregon violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act by the "unnecessary segregation" of children with disabilities. The lawsuit alleges that schools in Oregon, mainly in rural areas, send students home on a regular, sometimes daily basis, for all or parts of the school day, citing behavior issues or safety concerns stemming from behavioral, mental and emotional disorders such as autism. Read More

Fake Warnings on e-Cigarette Ads Distract Kids from Truth

When it comes to marketing electronic cigarettes to young people, fake news appears to stick. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration currently requires a prominent warning about the dangers of nicotine for e-cigarettes. But just before that mandate, a 2017 campaign by e-cigarette maker blu included fake warnings in precisely the place the real warnings would eventually appear. Messages such as "IMPORTANT: Contains flavor" and "IMPORTANT: Less harmful to your wallet" appeared atop the ads in large print inside a box, mimicking the format of the then-upcoming federally mandated message -- "WARNING: This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical." Read More 

New Research Shows Quality Early Childhood Education Reduces Need for Later Special Education

If a formula existed for giving children something that reduced the need for, or intensity of, later special education that can be both emotionally and financially costly, wouldn't it be excellent? Such a formula does exist. It's called quality early childhood education. I was part of a team of special education researchers that examined the impact of early childhood education in Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom. More than 50 years of data were offered to us by longitudinal studies that tracked children who received this quality education and compared their development to children who did not. Read More

Kids with Cochlear Implants Since Infancy More Likely to Speak, not Sign

Researchers from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago present further evidence that deaf children who received cochlear implants (implanted electronic hearing device) before 12 months of age learn to more rapidly understand spoken language and are more likely to develop spoken language as their exclusive form of communication. In their study, published in Otology and Neurotology, this was true even for children with additional conditions often associated with language delay, such as significantly premature birth. Researchers also showed that implantation surgery and anesthesia were safe in young children, including infants. Read More

Device Allows People with Serious Disabilities to Use Twitter Using Their Brainwaves

Motor disabilities can transform what most consider to be simple, everyday tasks into mammoth challenges. Whether due to neurodegenerative diseases or trauma, impaired motor function can result in those affected unable to use certain limbs or body parts - and in some cases, their entire body. Those who face motor challenges are often unable to use smartphones or computers with their hands, and some may even find voice control too difficult. Read More

Brain's Ability to Synchronize Voice Sounds Could Be Related to Language Learning

Researchers from the Institute of Neurosciences of the University of Barcelona (NeuroUB) and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and from the New York University (USA), studied the synchronization of speech motor rhythms, i.e. the coordinated movements of the tongue, lips and jaw that build up the speech, with speech audio rhythms. Results show some people's brains adapt spontaneously to align with the rhythm of the voices they hear, while others do not. According to the research study in Nature Neuroscience, these patterns show differences in functional and structural aspects of the speech network in the brain, as well as the ability to understand new words. These findings would help assessing the speech and cognitive development in kids. Read More

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Brain's Ability to Synchronize Voice Sounds Could Be Related to Language Learning

Researchers from the Institute of Neurosciences of the University of Barcelona (NeuroUB) and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and from the New York University (USA), studied the synchronization of speech motor rhythms, i.e. the coordinated movements of the tongue, lips and jaw that build up the speech, with speech audio rhythms. Results show some people's brains adapt spontaneously to align with the rhythm of the voices they hear, while others do not. According to the research study in Nature Neuroscience, these patterns show differences in functional and structural aspects of the speech network in the brain, as well as the ability to understand new words. These findings would help assessing the speech and cognitive development in kids. Read More

Young People at Risk of Addiction Have Differences in Key Brain Region

Young adults at risk of developing problems with addiction show key differences in an important region of the brain, according to an international team led by researchers at the University of Cambridge. The study adds further evidence to support the idea that an individual's biological makeup plays a significant role in whether or not they develop an addictive disorder. Adolescence and young adulthood is an important time in a person's development. It is during this time that individuals begin to demonstrate behaviors that are associated with addiction and which suggest that they may be at risk. Read More

LATEST JOB LISTINGS POSTED ON NASET

* Special Education Teacher -Seattle Public Schools is seeking gap-closing, equity-focused educators to lead the way in eliminating opportunity gaps for our students. As an educator in SPS, you have the opportunity to have a profound and lasting positive impact on the lives of Seattle students.  To learn more - Click here

Teacher - Special Education (All Areas) - Approximately 100 positions! -We are looking for highly motivated and skilled talent to join our team at District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). We seek individuals who are passionate about transforming the DC school system and making a signifcant diference in the lives of public school students, parents, principals, teachers, and central office employees. To learn more - Click here

*Special Education Teacher - $50,000/school year (185 days), summers off with year round pay and year round appreciation.  Special Education Teachers needed in Arizona (Phoenix and surrounding cities). Needs are in the self-contained and resource settings serving students with emotional disabilities (ED), Autism (A), Severe/Profound (S/P), and Intellectual Disabilities (ID).  To learn more - Click here

* Physical Education Teacher - Jewish Child & Family Services (JCFS) provides vital, individualized, results-driven, therapeutic and supportive services for thousands of children, adults and families of all backgrounds each year. The Physical Education Teacher works with children (K - 22) with emotional and behavior disorders, which may include aggressive behaviors, in a therapeutic physical education setting. To learn more - Click here

If you are an Employer looking for excellent special education staff - Click here for more information

Food For Thought..........

Focus on your goals, not your fears.  

                                                 Roy Bennett